'Boys don't like it when they get beaten': Daventry girl, 13, ready for her Silverstone motorbike challenge

Tim Redigolo

A teenage girl will line up alongside 89 other young bikers on the Silverstone start line this month as she takes part in the selection event for the inaugural 2018 British Talent Cup.

Chloe Jones, 13, is one of just four girls chosen from the 200 applicants to be given the chance to compete in the event, which features 90 of the country's most gifted motorcycle racers under the age of 17.

Looking ahead to her big day on August 23, Chloe said the prospect of defeating the boys in the race would not only motivate her, but would also send a positive message to other girls.

She said: "I feel really good. I feel it's a great achievement just to be selected. There are four girls selected and I'm one of them.

"I hope it inspires more girls to get involved in racing and see that it's not just a boys sport, it's a girls sport as well.

"It gives me more motivation because I know the boys don't like it when they get beaten."

Currently a racer in the British Mini Bike Championship Chloe, from Daventry, only took up biking two years ago when her sponsor Les Webster got her a mini motor, but she has had an interest in the sport from a young age.

She practices every Tuesday at Whilton Mill and races once or twice a month across the country on tracks in Teeside, Kent, Wales and Cumbria.

Halfway through last year, with her sponsor begging mum Charlotte and dad Richard to get Chloe on a bigger bike, she began racing the 140cc bike she competes in today, initially "to have a try."

Chloe said: "They said to me 'if people are behind you don't block them, just let them pass.'

"We went out for the race and... I won it."

She added: "I won every race last year and came third, even though I missed half the season."

Having gone from strength to strength in the mini-motor category, Chloe now faces a different challenge on a different type of track, and the prospect of competing on the Silverstone track has mum Charlotte a little anxious.

"I'm really excited for her, it's a big opportunity," said Charlotte. "She's going to get the chance to ride a bigger bike, on a completely different track to what she's used to, with different people.

"Personally I'm scared because it's a huge track. Most of the tracks that we go to you can pretty much see her the whole time she's racing.

"When she goes to Silverstone there are going to be places where we're not going to be able to see her, we'll have to rely on marshals and everything else, so it's quite scary.

"But I'm really happy for her because it's a massive achievement to be selected, and as one of the four girls."

Chloe and the other competitors will have the whole day to prove themselves in front of the selection committee and those who qualify will be invited to take part in the Day of Champions on the Thursday before the British MotoGP Grand Prix, on August 24.

For the time being Chloe is keeping a cool head, and focusing on taking things step-by-step.

She said: "Hopefully I'll be one of the riders that they select to go onto the British Talent Cup, and then I would like to go to the European Talent Cup, and then hopefully MotoGP."